JP5370259B2 - Portable electronic devices - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable electronic device that can prevent erroneous detection of user operation. <P>SOLUTION: A portable electronic device comprises: display means for displaying visual information; contact detection means for detecting contact on an input area, which is on a display area where the display means displays the information and larger than the display area; contact position detection means for detecting a contact position by distinguishing the outer edge part of the input area from the inner part inside of the outer edge part based on detection results obtained by the contact detection means; and control means which executes processing in accordance with the contact position and does not execute any processing if the contact is on both the inner part and the outer edge part and if the inner part and the outer edge part are connected, based on detection results obtained by the contact position detection means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone or a portable music player.

As is well known, some portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone and a portable music player include a touch panel that detects an operation on a display.
However, a portable electronic device provided with a touch panel has a problem that, depending on how the user holds the portable electronic device, the hand held may touch the touch panel and may be erroneously detected as an operation.

JP 2009-80683 A

In the conventional portable electronic device, depending on how the user holds, there is a problem that the hand held may touch the touch panel and may be erroneously detected as an operation.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a portable electronic device that can prevent erroneous detection of a user operation.

  In order to achieve the above object, a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display means for visually displaying information, and a display area on which the display means displays information. Based on the detection result of the contact detection means for the wide input area and the detection result of the contact detection means, the outer edge of the input area is distinguished from the inner side of the outer edge to determine the position where the contact has occurred. Based on the detection result of the contact position detection means to be detected and the detection result of the contact position detection means, the processing corresponding to the position where the contact has occurred is executed, the contact is in the inner part and the outer edge part, and these When the portion and the outer edge portion are connected, a control means that does not execute processing is provided.

1 is a diagram illustrating an external appearance of a portable electronic device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a configuration of the portable electronic device illustrated in FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a touch panel control function of the portable electronic device shown in FIG. 1. The figure which illustrated the dead zone area set by the operation | movement shown in FIG. 3, and the display position of a scroll bar. The figure which illustrated the dead zone area set by the operation | movement shown in FIG. 3, and the display position of a scroll bar. The figure which illustrated the dead zone area set by the operation | movement shown in FIG. 3, and the display position of a scroll bar. The figure which illustrated the dead zone area set by the operation | movement shown in FIG. 3, and the display position of a scroll bar. The figure which illustrated the dead zone area set by the operation | movement shown in FIG. 3, and the display position of a scroll bar. The figure which illustrated the dead zone area set by the operation | movement shown in FIG. 3, and the display position of a scroll bar.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The mobile terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention is, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a portable game machine, and the like. In the following description, a mobile phone is taken as an example.

  FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, this mobile phone has a flat housing and has a touch panel type input unit on one surface thereof. Note that a casing having a folding structure or a slide mechanism may be used as long as it has a touch panel type input unit.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile phone shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the main components are a wireless communication unit 10, a display input unit 20, a call unit 30, an operation unit 40, a camera unit 41, a storage unit 50, and an infrared communication unit 60. A wireless communication function including a GPS receiving unit 70, a motion sensor unit 80, a power supply unit 90, and a main control unit 100, and performing mobile wireless communication via the base station device BS and the mobile communication network NW as main functions. Is provided.

  The radio communication unit 10 performs radio communication with the base station apparatus BS accommodated in the mobile communication network NW according to the instruction of the main control unit 100, and thereby transmits and receives voice data, e-mail data, etc. Web data and streaming data are received.

  Under the control of the main control unit 100, the display input unit 20 displays images (still images and moving images), character information, etc., visually transmits information to the user, and detects user operations on the displayed information. A so-called touch panel, which includes a display panel 21 and an operation panel 22.

  The display panel 21 uses an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like as a display device. The operation panel 22 is made of a transparent material capable of visually recognizing an image displayed on the display panel 21, is placed on the display surface of the display panel 21, and detects coordinates operated by a user's finger or stylus. It is a device. The detection signal detected by this device is output to the main control unit 100, and the main control unit 100 detects the operated position (coordinates) on the display panel 21 based on the detection signal.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the operation panel 22 has a larger area than the display panel 21 and completely covers the display panel 21. That is, the operation panel 22 has a function of detecting a user operation even in an area outside the display panel 21. In other words, the operation panel 22 includes a detection area (hereinafter referred to as a display area) for an overlapping portion that overlaps the display panel 21 and a detection area (hereinafter, a non-display area) for an outer edge portion that does not overlap the other display panel 21. And).

  Note that the size of the display area and the size of the display panel 21 do not have to coincide completely, and the operation panel 22 only needs to include two sensitive areas of the outer edge portion and the other inner portion. Further, the width of the outer edge portion is appropriately designed depending on the size of the housing. As a position detection method employed in the operation panel 22, there are a matrix switch method, a resistance film method, a surface acoustic wave method, an infrared method, an electromagnetic induction method, a capacitance method, and the like, and any method may be used.

  The call unit 30 includes a speaker 31 and a microphone 32, converts user's voice input through the microphone 32 into voice data that can be processed by the main control unit 100, and outputs the voice data to the main control unit 100, or a wireless communication unit. 10 or the audio data received by the infrared communication unit 60 is decoded and output from the speaker 31. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the speaker 31 is mounted on the same surface as the display input unit 20. The microphone 32 is mounted on the side surface of the casing of the mobile phone, for example, as shown in FIG.

  The operation unit 40 is a hardware key using a key switch or the like, and receives an instruction from the user through this. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a push button type switch that is mounted on the side surface of the mobile phone case and is turned on when pressed with a finger or the like, and turned off by a restoring force such as a spring when the finger is released. is there.

  The camera unit 41 is a digital camera that performs electronic photography using an imaging element such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device), and image data obtained by imaging under the control of the main control unit 100. Is converted into compressed image data such as JPEG (Joint Photographic coding Experts Group) and recorded in the storage unit 50 described later. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the camera unit 41 is mounted on the same surface as the display input unit 20.

  The storage unit 50 includes a control program and control data of the main control unit 100, application software, address data that associates the name and telephone number of the communication partner, transmitted / received e-mail data, Web data downloaded by Web browsing, The downloaded content data is stored, and streaming data and the like are temporarily stored. Note that the storage unit 50 is realized by using a storage medium such as a RAM, a ROM, or a NAND flash memory.

  The infrared communication unit 60 performs infrared communication with an opposite device (for example, another mobile phone MS) having an infrared communication function, and is set for operation by the main control unit 100 and transmitted from the main control unit 100. Data is transmitted by infrared light, or data transmitted by infrared light from the opposite device is received, and this is output to the main control unit 100 as received data.

  The GPS receiving unit 70 receives GPS signals transmitted from GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites ST1 to STn in accordance with instructions from the main control unit 100, and executes positioning calculation processing based on the received plurality of GPS signals. Detects position information including the latitude, longitude, and altitude of the mobile phone.

The motion sensor unit 80 includes, for example, a triaxial acceleration sensor, and detects the physical movement of the mobile phone according to an instruction from the main control unit 100. Thereby, the moving direction and speed of the mobile phone are detected. This detection result is output to the main control unit 100.
The power supply unit 90 supplies power stored in a battery (not shown) to each unit of the mobile phone in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 100.

  The main control unit 100 includes a microprocessor, operates according to a control program and control data stored in the storage unit 50, and controls each part of the mobile phone in an integrated manner. In order to perform communication and data communication, a mobile communication control function for controlling each part of the communication system and an application processing function are provided.

  The application processing function is realized by the main control unit 100 operating in accordance with application software stored in the storage unit 50. For example, infrared communication that controls the infrared communication unit 60 to perform data communication with the opposite device. There are functions, e-mail functions for sending and receiving e-mails, and web browsing functions for browsing web pages.

  The main control unit 100 also has an image processing function for displaying video on the display input unit 20 based on image data (still image data or moving image data) such as received data or downloaded streaming data. In this image processing function, the main control unit 100 decodes the image data, performs image processing on the decoding result, and displays an image on the display input unit 20.

The main control unit 100 includes display control for the display panel 21 and operation detection control for detecting a user operation through the operation unit 40 and the operation panel 22.
By the display control, the main control unit 100 displays an icon for starting application software, a software key such as a scroll bar, or a window for creating an e-mail. Note that the scroll bar is a software key for accepting an instruction to move the display portion of a large image that cannot fit in the display area of the display panel 21.

  Further, by the operation detection control, the main control unit 100 detects a user operation through the operation unit 40, receives an operation on the icon or an input of a character string in the input field of the window through the operation panel 22, Alternatively, a display image scroll request through the scroll bar is accepted.

  In the operation detection control, the main control unit 100 determines whether the operation position with respect to the operation panel 22 is an overlapping part (display area) overlapping the display panel 21 or an outer edge part (non-display area) not overlapping the other display panel 21. And a touch panel control function for controlling the sensitive area of the operation panel 22 and the display position of the software key.

  The main control unit 100 detects a gesture operation on the operation panel 22 and executes a preset function in accordance with the detected gesture operation. Gesture operation is not a conventional simple touch operation, but an operation that draws a trajectory with a finger or the like, designates a plurality of positions at the same time, or combines these to draw a trajectory for at least one of a plurality of positions. means.

  Next, the operation of the mobile phone configured as described above will be described. In the following description, explanations of operations based on outgoing / incoming control, voice communication, data communication, application software, etc. are omitted, and operations related to the touch panel control function executed in parallel with these operations or when receiving incoming calls are omitted. Will be explained. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining this operation, and the control program is stored in the storage unit 50. The main control unit 100 is realized by operating according to this control program. This operation is started when the mobile phone is turned on and, in principle, is repeatedly executed until the power is turned off.

  First, in step 3 a, the main control unit 100 determines whether or not an operation has been performed on the display area in the detection area of the operation panel 22 based on the detection result of the operation panel 22. If the operation panel 22 detects an operation on the display area, the process proceeds to step 3b. If not detected, the same determination is performed again in step 3a.

  In step 3b, the main control unit 100 determines whether or not an operation has been performed on the non-display area connected to the display area determined to have been operated in step 3a. If the operation panel 22 detects an operation on the display area, the process proceeds to step 3d. If not detected, the process proceeds to step 3c.

  Note that the determination about the connection between the display area and the non-display area can be realized by the following processing, for example. That is, the main control unit 100 determines the first representative point from the display area determined to have been operated in step 3a, and determines the second representative point from the operated non-display area. The representative point is targeted at the center of gravity within the region. Then, the main control unit 100 determines whether or not the distance between the first representative point and the second representative point is within a predetermined distance set in advance. If the distance is within the predetermined distance, both areas are connected. Is determined.

  The predetermined distance is a distance determined in consideration of an area in contact with the operation panel 22 when the operation panel 22 is operated with a general adult finger. According to such processing, it is possible to determine whether or not the display area is connected without comparing the coordinates of the operated display area and the non-display area and determining the connection. However, connection may be determined by comparing all coordinates.

  That is, in step 3a and step 3b, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, for example, when the mobile phone is held by hand, a finger or the like reaching the display surface of the display input unit 20 It is determined whether or not the non-display area and the display area connected to the non-display area are in contact with each other at the same time.

  In step 3c, the main control unit 100 detects the coordinates of the display area determined to have been operated in step 3a, and detects software keys and icons displayed on the display panel 21 at these coordinates. Then, the operation detected in step 3a is regarded as an operation for the software key or icon, and the function assigned to the software key or the function associated with the icon (activation of application software) is performed. Control goes to step 3a.

In step 3d, the main control unit 100 regards the area where the operation is detected in steps 3a and 3b and the area in the vicinity thereof as the dead zone NS, and proceeds to step 3e. Thereafter, the main control unit 100 ignores the operation detected in the dead zone NS and performs no processing. That is, the dead zone area NS can be regarded as the position of the user's handle, and the user's dominant hand (handle) can be determined.
As exemplified in this embodiment, in the case of a mobile phone that assumes a size that allows the terminal device to be held with one hand, the determination of the dominant hand (hand) is, for example, the following process (first determination) This can be realized by the main control unit 100 executing the algorithm or the second determination algorithm. If it is held from the back surface (surface without the display input unit 20), as shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, a finger may protrude from the lateral side surface of the display panel 21. One side protrudes from the thumb, and the other side protrudes from the other finger. Only the thumb may protrude.

(First judgment algorithm)
The main control unit 100 detects the number (number of representative points) generated in the left and right sides of the area considered as the dead zone NS in step 3d, and determines whether the handle is a right hand or a left hand depending on the number. Determine. That is, it is considered that the thumb is present on the side having the smaller number and the other fingers are present on the side having the larger number. For this reason, when it is assumed that the thumb is present on the left side, it is determined that the hand is held with the left hand. On the other hand, when it is assumed that the thumb is present on the right side, the hand is held with the right hand. judge.

(Second determination algorithm)
The main control unit 100 detects the generated area on each of the left and right sides of the area considered as the dead zone NS in step 3d, and determines whether the handle is the right hand or the left hand according to the area. That is, it is assumed that the thumb is present on the side surface having the smaller area and the other fingers are present on the side surface having the larger area. For this reason, when it is assumed that the thumb is present on the left side, it is determined that the hand is held with the left hand. On the other hand, when it is assumed that the thumb is present on the right side, the hand is held with the right hand. judge.

  In the case where the terminal device has a shape that cannot be gripped, such as a terminal device that is too large to be gripped, the main control unit 100 has a hand that is held based on the number and area of the dead zone NS that has occurred on one side. Determine whether right hand or left hand. That is, when the number of dead zone areas NS generated on one side is 2 or more, or when the area of the dead zone area NS generated on one side is larger than a predetermined area that can be generated by the thumb, there is a finger other than the thumb. Consider it a thing. When the main control unit 100 determines that there is a finger other than the thumb on the right side, the main control unit 100 determines that the finger is held with the left hand. It is determined that it is held with the right hand.

  Even if an object such as an icon is displayed in the display area of the display panel 21 corresponding to the dead zone NS, it is not regarded as an operation on this object. Note that when either one of the conditions of Steps 3a and 3b is not satisfied, the main control unit 100 immediately releases the dead zone NS set in Step 3d.

  The dead zone area NS set in this way is not released until the simultaneous operation on the display area and the non-display area connected thereto is released. That is, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 9, the dead zone NS is not released as long as the state of contact with a finger or the like continues. Note that the dead zone NS is a region where the region where the operation panel 22 detects contact and the region corresponding to a predetermined number of pixels from the outer periphery are combined. By setting a wide area as the dead zone NS, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection even if a finger moves slightly.

  In step 3e, the main control unit 100 determines whether or not a scroll bar is displayed on the display panel 21 at the coordinates corresponding to the dead zone NS set in step 3d. If the scroll bar is displayed, the process proceeds to step 3f. If not, the process proceeds to step 3a.

  In step 3f, the main control unit 100 changes the display position of the scroll bar displayed in the dead zone area NS to outside the dead zone area NS, and proceeds to step 3a. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, when the dead zone NS exists on the left side of the display area of the display panel 21, the scroll bar SB is changed to the vicinity of the right side and displayed. Similarly, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, when the dead zone NS exists on the right side of the display area of the display panel 21, the scroll bar SB is changed to the vicinity of the left side and displayed. Then, an operation on the scroll bar SB whose display position has been changed in this way is detected by the operation panel 22, and a screen scroll display process is performed.

As described above, in the cellular phone configured as described above, when an operation on a non-display area and a display area connected thereto is detected, a dead zone area NS is set, and even if an operation on this area is detected, it is ignored. The processing is not executed. That is, an operation that is estimated to be unintended by the user can be ignored.
Therefore, according to the mobile phone configured as described above, an operation unintended by the user can be determined, so that it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of a finger or the like that touches the operation panel 22 by holding as a user operation.

  Further, when the scroll bar SB is displayed in the area where the dead band area NS is set, the display position is moved outside the dead band area NS and displayed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the operability from being impaired by the setting of the dead zone NS.

  Further, only when it is detected in step 3a that an operation has been performed on the display area, the operation is performed on the non-display area connected to the display area determined to have been operated in step 3a. It is determined whether or not it has been received. That is, only when an operation on the display area is detected, the operation on the non-display area is determined. Therefore, even if the operation on the non-display area is performed before the operation on the display area, this operation is performed. Will be ignored.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. Further, for example, a configuration in which some components are deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment is also conceivable. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component described in different embodiment.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the operation for the non-display area and the display area connected to the non-display area is detected and the dead zone area NS is set in step 3a and step 3b. Or in addition to this, for example, based on the detection result of the operation panel 22, when the main control unit 100 moves the operated coordinates from the non-display area to the display area connected thereto, or the operated coordinates are not displayed. When it is limited to the area, these operations are regarded as operations not intended by the user, and these operations are ignored even if software keys are displayed at the coordinates or gesture operations are performed. In other words, the main control unit 100 may detect a user operation only when the operated coordinates are limited within the display area or when the coordinate is moved from the display area to the non-display area.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the shape of the display area of the display panel 21 is illustrated as a square, and in step 3f, the display position of the scroll bar SB is described as being moved to the opposite side without the dead zone NS. Instead of moving to the side, it may be displayed by simply moving it to a position avoiding the dead zone NS (in the vicinity of the dead zone NS). In this case, the main control unit 100 detects a position that does not overlap another object and displays the scroll bar SB at that position, or until the setting of the dead zone NS is canceled, It may be displayed in an overlapping manner.

  In addition, although the scroll bar SB has been described as an example of the object whose display position is changed in step 3f, the object is not limited to this and may be an object such as an icon or a window. That is, when the dead zone NS is set in step 3d and the main control unit 100 detects that an object such as an icon or window is displayed at the coordinates corresponding to this area, the main control unit 100 The display position may be displayed outside the dead zone area NS. According to this, it is possible to prevent an object that cannot be operated due to the setting of the dead zone NS.

The objects (scroll bar SB, icon, window) moved and displayed by the process of step 3f are moved to their original positions and redisplayed when the dead zone NS is released. For this reason, the main control unit 100 holds the coordinates of the position displayed before the movement in step 3f.
In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly implemented even if various modifications are made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Wireless communication part, 20 ... Display input part, 21 ... Display panel, 22 ... Operation panel, 30 ... Communication part, 31 ... Speaker, 32 ... Microphone, 40 ... Operation part, 41 ... Camera part, 50 ... Memory | storage part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 60 ... Infrared communication part, 70 ... GPS receiving part, 80 ... Motion sensor part, 90 ... Power supply part, 100 ... Main control part, BS ... Base station apparatus, MS ... Mobile telephone, NW ... Mobile communication network, ST1-STn ... GPS satellite.

Claims (8)

Display means for visually displaying information;
On the display area where the display means displays information, contact detection means for detecting contact for an input area wider than the display area;
Based on the detection result of the contact detection means, the outer edge portion of the input region and the inner edge portion inside the outer edge portion are distinguished, and a contact position detection means for detecting a position where contact has occurred,
Based on the detection result of the contact position detecting means, a process corresponding to the position where the contact has occurred is executed, the contact is in the inner part and the outer edge part, and the inner part and the outer edge part are connected. A portable electronic device, comprising: a control unit that does not execute the process. Display means for visually displaying information;
On the display area where the display means displays information, contact detection means for detecting contact for an input area wider than the display area;
Based on the detection result of the contact detection means, the outer edge portion of the input region and the inner edge portion inside the outer edge portion are distinguished, and a contact position detection means for detecting a position where contact has occurred,
Based on the detection result of the contact position detection means, a process corresponding to the position where the contact has occurred is executed, and if the position where the contact has moved moves from the outer edge to the inner part, the process is performed. And a control means that does not execute the above. Display means for visually displaying information;
On the display area where the display means displays information, contact detection means for detecting contact for an input area wider than the display area;
Based on the detection result of the contact detection means, the outer edge portion of the input region and the inner edge portion inside the outer edge portion are distinguished, and a contact position detection means for detecting a position where contact has occurred,
Based on the detection result of the contact position detection means, a process corresponding to the position where the contact has occurred is executed, and when the position where the contact has occurred is an outer edge, the control is not performed. And a portable electronic device.   The contact position detecting unit detects a position where contact has occurred by distinguishing an input region corresponding to a display region of the display unit as an inner portion and other input regions as outer edges. The portable electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The control means includes
First means for determining whether or not the position where the contact has occurred is an inner part based on the detection result of the contact position detecting means;
A second means for determining whether or not there is a contact with the outer edge connected to the inner part when the first means determines that the inner part is an inner part;
Based on the detection result of the contact position detection means, a process corresponding to the position where the contact has occurred is executed, and if the second means determines that there is a contact, the process is not executed. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising: third means characterized by the above.   The control means executes processing according to the position where contact has occurred based on the detection result of the contact position detection means, and the contact is in the inner part and the outer edge part, and these inner part and outer edge part. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein when the parts are connected, a dead area is set in the input area including the inner part and the outer edge part, and processing based on contact with the dead area is not executed. Type electronic equipment.   Further, when an object is displayed in the display area corresponding to the insensitive area set by the control means, the display control means for displaying the object at a position outside the insensitive area is provided. The portable electronic device according to claim 6.   Further, when an object displayed for receiving an operation for scrolling a display image is displayed in the display area corresponding to the insensitive area set by the control means, the object is displayed in the insensitive area. 7. The portable electronic device according to claim 6, further comprising display control means for displaying in the vicinity of the opposing sides.

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